The NZX has slated a board refresh with three members, including chair, James Miller, set to exit within the next few months as two new directors arrive.
In a move signaled this February, Miller will depart in April 2023 to be replaced as chair by former First NZ Capital head of investment banking, Rob Hamilton.
Hamilton joined the NZX board last week along with Datacom chief financial officer, Rachel Walsh.
Incumbent NZX directors Nigel Babbage and Richard Bodman will retire late in November and December, respectively, as both complete five-year terms.
Following a more than 20-year career with First NZ Capital (now Jarden), Hamilton was named chief financial officer for Sky City in 2014, finishing up at the casino operator last year to take on director roles including Westpac NZ, Tourism Holdings and Oceania Healthcare.
“Rob and Rachel are proven performers,” Miller said in a release. “They are outstanding leaders whose strong understanding of markets, listed company requirements, financial services and increasing business performance will be of great value to NZX.”
He said Babbage and Bodman were moving on due to increased family and other work commitments
“[Babbage and Bodman] have been part of a Board that has moved the organisation from being a narrow-based exchange operator into a scaled diversified financial with the expansion of Smartshares and the growth of Wealth Technologies,” Miller said.
Bodman, also a former First NZ executive, is on the boards of both Octagon Asset Management (the recently renamed funds management arm of Forsyth Barr) and the Nicholas Bagnall-run global equities shop, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management.
Across the Tasman last week, First Sentier Investors named former AMP Capital responsible investment specialist, Kristen Le Mesurier, to the newly created head of ESG position.
Le Mesurier comes to First Sentier from Australian shares boutique, Platypus Asset Management, where she landed in 2020 following a five-year turn at AMP Capital.
Prior to AMP Capital she worked in a number of roles including across several sectors including institutional trading, corporate governance advisory, journalism and law.
In a release, First Sentier head of Australian growth equities, Dushko Bajic, said Le Mesurier was a “significant addition to the team, signalling the importance of ESG to its investment approach”.
“Kristen will be responsible for the integration of ESG across all of the First Sentier Australian Equities Growth funds, as well as the team’s active engagement agenda,” Bajic said.
Formerly known as Colonial First State Global Asset Management, First Sentier is now owned by Japanese firm, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. First Sentier manages about A$240 billion including through sub-brands Stewart Investors and RealIndex.
Meanwhile, trans-Tasman commercial property investment business, MaxCap, has appointed Nick Bullick as head of the NZ arm.
Previously head senior debt strategies for Australian real estate firm Qualitas, Bullick replaces foundation MaxCap NZ chief investment officer, Mark Farrands, who left the company this April after three years in the role.
Bullick will be responsible for “all facets” of the MaxCap NZ business including “delivering an aggressive growth program”, according to a release.
Brae Sokolski, MaxCap founder, said the group was committed to the NZ market.
“As the economy tightens up, and access to capital from the mainstream banks with it (which is already occurring), we expect increased demand for capital into the New Zealand commercial real estate market,” Sokolski said.
MaxCap launched in NZ in 2019 through a joint venture with Forsyth Barr and local property firm, Bayleys. The Australian parent owns half of the NZ operation while Forsyth Barr and Bayleys split the rest equally.